Various surgical procedures are routinely carried out intravascularly or intraluminally. For example, in the treatment of vascular disease, such as arteriosclerosis, it is a common practice to access the artery and insert an instrument (e.g., a balloon or other type of catheter) to carry out a procedure within the artery. Such procedures usually involve the percutaneous puncture of the artery so that an insertion sheath may be placed in the artery and thereafter instruments (e.g., a catheter) may pass through the sheath and to an operative position within the artery. Intravascular and intraluminal procedures unavoidably present the problem of stopping the bleeding at the percutaneous puncture after the procedure has been completed and after the instruments (and any insertion sheaths used therewith) have been removed. Bleeding from puncture sites, particularly in the case of femoral arterial punctures, may be stopped by utilizing vascular closure devices.
Typical closure devices such as the ones described in the above-mentioned patents place a sealing plug at the tissue puncture site. Deployment of the sealing plug may involve ejecting the sealing plug from within the closure device sheath to a location in alignment with and adjacent to the tissue puncture along an outer surface of the vessel and within a percutaneous tissue tract. Mounting the closure device onto a proximal end of the guidewire and advancing the closure device to the tissue puncture site may require both of the operator's hands. However, in at least some treatment procedures, one of the operator's hands is used to apply and maintain pressure to the patient adjacent to the tissue puncture to provide hemostasis and hold the guidewire within the vessel. Releasing the operator's hand from applying pressure to the patient may result in complications in the procedure. Opportunities exist for improvements in this technical area.